Position Paper: Towards a Safer Future

Our Position Paper communicates our vision for a world leading, modern product safety framework. We reflect on the lessons learnt during the pandemic and share our expertise and recommendations for building a stronger product safety framework, that is fit for purpose, effective in a digital economy and more resilient for future emergencies.

In our Position Paper we identify a number of vulnerabilities and threats to consumer safety that have arisen as a result of the growth of the digital economy, the challenges posed by post-Brexit regulatory changes, and the continued reliance on a fragmented system of regulation, monitoring and enforcement for product safety.

We look at the current challenges and make a series of recommendations in six key areas, focussing on harnessing innovation and expertise within the UK safety sector, building a system that is easy to navigate but harder to circumvent and developing a product safety framework that is fit for the future.

"The creation of a new product safety framework is a task that we should see as lasting beyond the pandemic - and necessitates a full assessment of what is working, and what is not. There is an acute need to look at the structures that protect us from everyday risk, from substandard goods and unscrupulous businesses and we believe it is important to continue our work on what lessons can be learnt from the pandemic, to ensure the country can be better prepared for future emergencies.

Our recommendations reflect the work of our experts, our experience as the UK's leading safety company, as a major importer of regulated goods, and as a supplier to the UK Government and public sector. It reflects what we have said to Government, to Parliament and to our colleagues across the sector.

Together, we believe we can build a safer future."